Many catheters, particularly intravenous and arterial catheters, carry a separate hub on one end thereof for attachment of the catheter to a source of parenteral solution, blood or the like. A serious occasional problem which has been encountered with intravenous and arterial catheters is that, upon withdrawing of the catheter from an artery or vein, the hub separates from the catheter. On occasion the catheter has actually been lost in the cardiovascular system of the patient. Obviously, it is important to avoid even a very occasional occurence of this incident.
There are many ways of fitting a catheter into a hub. Adhesives or solvent bonding of the catheter tube to the hub may be used, and various friction fit attachments may also be used. However, these techniques have proven to be less successful for use in flexible catheters than the technique of this invention. Specifically, with the other bonding techniques the catheter and hub still can separate, especially with catheter materials which have low friction surfaces such as fluorocarbon plastics and silicone-lubricated elastomers, and hydrogel-coated catheters.
In accordance with this invention the bond between the catheter hub and the catheter itself is stronger than the tensile strength of the catheter, so the catheter can actually break before losing its bond with the hub. This can be even when catheter materials are used which are stronger than silicone rubber.